As we get closer to the launch date of the Motorola Xoom
(this Thursday), more details are being revealed on the device. The latest
piece of info to come out of Verizon today is that the Xoom will priced at $599 from Verizon
with a two-year data contract.

As you may recall, the unsubsidized Xoom (with built-in 3G
modem) is priced at $799 while the Wi-Fi-only model is priced
at $599. Verizon also confirmed that the data plans would start at $20/month
for a measly 1GB of data. For comparison, AT&T offers 2GB of data on
the iPad 3G for $25/month.

Another surprising bit of information gleaned from Verizon's
press release is that the LTE upgrade that has been talked about for the Xoom
will be a free upgrade when it becomes available in the second half of 2011.

"Intel is investing heavily (think gazillions of dollars and bazillions of engineering man hours) in resources to create an Intel host controllers spec in order to speed time to market of the USB 3.0 technology." -- Intel blogger Nick Knupffer